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A Professional Association as Network and Communicating Node: The Pharmaceutical Society of Australasia, 1857–1918
Author(s) -
Boyce Gordon
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
australian economic history review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.493
H-Index - 16
eISSN - 1467-8446
pISSN - 0004-8992
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8446.00052
Subject(s) - professionalization , legislature , professional association , association (psychology) , order (exchange) , public relations , political science , public administration , business , law , psychology , finance , psychotherapist
This paper explicitly examines the communicating processes that conditioned the dynamic interaction between recognized norms and legislative activity affecting the professional development of pharmacists. The Pharmaceutical Society of Australasia successfully developed communication channels, exploited recognized models, and created institutional constructs. In contrast to much of the literature which attributes professionalization to the pursuit of a single aim, this study found that the PSA sought to achieve a wide range of objectives and that having a broad agenda was to its advantage. The PSA succeeded in shaping the public conceptions of the profession in order to influence an emerging regulatory regime.